No Place Like Home...

Recently I have started reading a new comic: No Place Like Home. It's roughly based on the Wizard of Oz, but brought bang up to date and re-vamped for an edgier audience. I shall see how it goes but so far I am loving it.

Also, hopefully Hecate will have her own comic soon so you can see the adventures of being a zombie pin-up queen and all her run-ins with werewolves, ghouls and the devil himself! I am super excited and have started mapping out her script, I feel it's the drawing that will be the tricky part! It is all in my head but I need to get it onto paper... how do comic book artists do it?!

Cosmetics Review- NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer

Okay, so kindly I was given a few samples of the new NARS tinted moisturizer...

Taken from the NARS official website:

Your skin – almost bare, but better. This advanced, oil-free formula provides a translucent veil of color and sun protection while helping to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and dark spots in just four weeks.
Infused with lush, naturally derived botanicals and ingredients to immediately helps thirsty skin feel hydrated. Kopara from French Polynesia and mineral rich seawater revive and re-mineralize skin for a softer, smoother, and brighter natural glow. Skin is transported.

• Advanced sun protection
• Hydrates and helps reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and dark spots for a brighter natural glow
• Oil-free. Paraben free. Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Synthetic fragrance free.

Consumer Testing Results:

• 84% felt their skin was more radiant and luminous
• 81% felt the product smoothed out the surface of their skin
• 81% felt the product gave them immediate hydration

I was given two shades: Alaska (light with neutral balance of pink and yellow tones) and St. Moritz (neutral with a yellow undertone)

I first prepped my face with NARS pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer, which felt really nice but smelt somewhat like the lotion I used to cover my ecsma with when I was a child to stop it from itching. It is probably something to do with the bisabolol and butterbur root extracts I assume, which Nars claims soothe and calm the skin. The primer feels really nice on, and controls oil in the t-zone without having that powdery cakey feel like so many anti-grease primers. I could immediately see some pore-refining too, which is a definite bonus.

On to the moisturizer... I used Alaska as I have very fair skin. It is neither yellow or pink in it's undertone but I prefer a very slightly yellow as opposed to pink undertone as I have some cheek redness that I can not stand and like to disguise! I find a slight yellow/neutral tone easily corrects this. My MAC shade is NC15, so Alaska appears to be the shade that would match this most closely.
However, on first application I felt the colour was far too yellow for me, which is odd seeing as the colour is supposedly neutral. Perhaps mixed with Finland (which appears on the site to be slightly more pink) this would counteract the yellowness? I shall have to see! I think NARS got it wrong when they claimed this was a neutral shade, it clearly isn't. The feel of the moisturizer is nice though, it doesn't spread quite so much as most tinted moisturizers though. Also, it has very little coverage. I have lots of areas I like to cover up, whether I need to or not, so it definitely isn't the type of thing I like. But it does give a nice radience to someone with already perfect skin.

Overall, not for me, but a nice non-greasy tinted moisturizer, definitely one of the best feeling tinted moisturizers I have used... just make sure you find the right colour or you may end up with a tint of yellow, and looking less radient and more ill.

Things I am Loving this Month...

American Vampire

This Eisner Award winning comic series is one I have been meaning to read for a while. I almost bought it when it came out first but was a little skint, so after being given a WHSmith gift voucher for Christmas I thought I'd take the opportunity to give it a go. I am not disappointed.
The graphic novel compiles, I believe issues 1-5, and tells two stories side by side - one of notorious outlaw Skinner Sweet, and another of flapper girl actress Pearl Jones. Sweet is accidentally turned into a vampire in the late 1800's and becomes the first of a new vamp race, one that can walk in day light, Pearl becomes his one and only sire. It is a brilliantly dark remedy to the mainstream vampires of twilight and although I am a great fan of True Blood, the vamps of American Vampire could even knock Eric down a peg or two, there's no happy endings here, just damn good reading.

Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation

I usually wear Mac foundations. I like medium to full coverage but a barely there, natural look, which is quite hard to find. On top of that I like something that lasts ALL day. I have oily/combination skin but during the winter months I tend to get dry patches. This foundation is AMAZING. I was using Mac's ProLongwear Foundation, which really does last and last all day, however, I was finding it a bit too drying and it had started to look a bit cakey in some areas so I thought I could do with a change. This foundation doesn't quite last like ProLongwear, but what does? However, it does last all day and if you dab a bit of ProLongwear Concealer on top of any areas you are particularly concerned about (I need a little bit extra lasting coverage around my nose at the moment due to a horrendos cold) you are set all day and night. I also love how natural it looks. It has a 'semi-matte' finish and blends effortlessly into my skin. I was finding Prolongwear a little TOO light for my porcelain complexion when in artificial light (yet any darker would have looked too dark) when this looks natural in every light. Plus, the colour it goes on as, it stays as (I have found that with the prolongwear concealor it looks light at first and then drys slightly darker) I don't mean to keep comparing the product to prolongwear, because I absolutely love prolongwear as it will not budge, even in water, but this foundation is just easier to wear for every day. I still keep my faithful prolongwear for messy nights out though ;) Oh and apparently this is the foundation Kate Middleton wore for her wedding, so your in good company!

OCC Lip Tar

I am officially addicted to this stuff. It is AMAZING. It claims to go on like a gloss and have the durability of a lipstick and it DOES. It is honestly brilliant. You only need a teeny tiny amount for opaque coverage and it comes in brilliant bright shades, every colour you desire! Plus, you can mix them all and they are cruelty free! What's not to love? Forget Illamasqua, yeh sure their glosses come in great colours but they are not a patch on these and don't last at all.

Adventure Time

I absolutely love this. I mean it's taken me a while to catch on, but finally I decided to give this kids cartoon a go. It is brilliant! It is funny, quirky and genuinely entertaining, even for a 22 year old. If you are ever feeling down or ill, put on some Adventure Time and it is guarenteed to cheer you up!

it's a long way to the top.... if you wanna rock n roll

I feel like a rant (again) I know it's all I do but I really feel this issue NEEDS to be addressed. Since when is it cool to pose naked in pictures at the tender age of 17 and exclaim you are a 'model'? Further more, what is with the mass amount of 'alternative models' that have popped up on the internet? HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU A MODEL? URGH. And I really doubt you have that figure and eat 20 big macs a week, douchebag.
I just find it super concerning that the vast majority of young women are suddenly deciding to become alternative models (*cough* glamour models) and find it perfectly fine for this to be their life time wish.
I mean for one, the 'alternative' lifestyle used to be one that addressed issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. and these days it seems to just reinstate these issues rather than tackeling them. In the late 70's it was shocking and subversive to wear pants that showed your naked butt and burn your bra. These days these things seem to reinstate sexism and further solidify such issues into modern daily life.
JUST BECAUSE A NAKED GIRL HAS TATTOOS DOES NOT MAKE HER FEMINIST.
Jesus.
Female friendly pornography is not photographed by men for men and does not patronise female models into thinking they are somehow doing something for the greater good of womankind by taking their panties off. Suicide girls is not female friendly, or post feminist. It is just another mainstream pornographic company run by 'the man'. How can that be 'punk rock' how can that be 'feminist' how the fuck is that ALTERNATIVE?

Get a clue.
Rant over.
:)

P.S. There is, granted, a fine line between embracing your feminine sexuality and capitolising on it and just becoming another sheep in the slaughter house...What ever happened to wonder woman being a role model? I mean she oozes sex appeal but kicks ass at the same time. We need a revolution, we need another Buffy.

Controversial Subject....

Controversial, I know, but I actually kinda like this new Wonder Woman reboot... I mean, she is pretty badass and when characters have SO much history, like Wonder Woman, it's easy to get lost in the multiple reincarnations, so why not start again? I mean, I don't see why DC have labelled it a total reboot, it's just another new comic to add onto the multiple variations of WW, Batman, Flash, etc... so it's not really a reboot at all, it's just an addition. I am kind of disappointed she is still wearing pants though... I was super excited when I saw her shiny blue leggings last year...

Rant.... Why Do Girls Diet?!

I have been thinking, yes thinking again. They say it is dangerous for a woman to think. It probably is, because we think so hard and so much that if we thought too much this world would be exposed for what it really is – a heap of hypocritical uneducated arseholes who think they are better than the rest of the uneducated arseholes. But this is besides the point... my question is: why do women/girls diet? Why do I diet?

Okay so why DO I diet? It could be something to do with my own self image, no it is definitely to do with my own self image. Does the media have any say in my dieting? Yes. Do I like that I am affected by the media? No. But I evidently am.

When I was ten I remember saying, no, vowing, that I would never look in a mirror and ask my significant other/ anyone standing beside me while I am looking into said mirror, ‘does my bum look big in this?’ However, I am pretty sure that since then I have. Numerous times. I remember a girl in school pinching the layer of flab that cushioned my rib cage and declaring that I had ‘rolls’ and that she didn’t. I was thirteen. I had bearly lost my puppy fat, in fact I probably hadn’t seeing as I had only just entered the most devastating, soul crushing stage of my life, adolescence. I suppose adolescence sucks for everyone. I doubt anyone has any other reaction to starting their period than breaking down in tears, and if they don’t break down in tears at the realisation that you are now bleeding from your vagina and will do every month for the rest of the foreseeable future you are quite possibly a masochist. What this long winded paragraph is trying to say is, girls in school are bitches and can have a ridiculous impact on the rest of your life if they time their bitchiness right, and this one did.

These days though, I blame men for my dieting habit. Who are the most attractive women in Hollywood? Are they fat? No? Of course they are not. They are tiny and probably weigh the same as my left leg.

Every time a boyfriend would tell me how ‘hot as fuck’ some super skinny latex clad girl with F cup breasts and thighs you could crack peanuts between something inside me would decide that if I did not acquire all of her feminine attributes, or at least some of her feminine attributes I would no longer be attractive in the eyes of my boyfriend and during sex and/or my boyfriends inevitable masturbation session later that night, he would not be thinking of me and how ‘hot as fuck’ I was but of her. This therefore starts a domino effect where each domino falls down on top of me at the same time and buries me into a pit of self pity.

So first I wanted to achieve the perfect abs, just like the ones you see on TV, when a girl takes off her top and she looks so trim in her bra, no extra skin hanging over the sides, the cups seem to hug her breasts like clouds cupping the sun on a summers day, ah, beautiful. No ugly strap marks on her shoulders where the weight of her giant bosoms has dug them into her perfectly angular collar bones. Then she takes off her bra revealing her beautifully rounded, natural breasts with two nipples who point towards the ceiling, hard as if the room is twenty degrees below zero. Oh well here’s something no amount of cardio will ever help me achieve, the perfect perky breasts that all these beautiful women seem to have. So what’s the point? Maybe I should just grab another aero bar, or maybe if I have her abs my boyfriend will over look the imperfect, sagging breasts whose giant nipples seem to point down in shame towards the floor? Maybe I could achieve the perfect arse instead? But SHE has the perfect package! Surely nothing you will do will ever be good enough?! Probably not.

I kid you not, those thoughts have all run through my head numerous times, and probably through womens heads forever. I mean sure, NOW there are images of mens torsos plastered all over television, okay, maybe there could do with a few more, but women have ALWAYS had PLENTY of half naked unachievably slim beauty’s to compare themselves to, ones they will never ever live up to, and those beautiful women we see just keep getting thinner as the average woman gets bigger. Is that fair? I don’t think so.

A Nail?? It's my whole fucking finger!

One Eyed Monster

I came across this gem while browsing through the movie channels late at night, oh how I love you Horror Channel, what did I do before you existed? Obviously didn’t watch Ron Jeremy’s penis detach itself from his body and start on a murderous rampage across a remote porn film set that’s for sure, those were dark days... This film = the mutated grandchild of the thing and alien fathered by a Ron Jeremy. It is quite honestly one of the most riDICKulous (like my pun? Oh hahaha) movies I have ever laid eyes upon, and I am queen of all films stupid.

Still unconvinced? Why the fuck are you reading this blog then?

Found these beauties!!...

From my zine review....

MY Top 5 Halloween Films

All set at Halloween, of course!

5. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton’s fantastic animated film about a pumpkin king who tires of Halloween and brings horrors to children on Christmas day is perfect for all the family to enjoy, and what better time to watch it than in the months between Halloween and Christmas Day? It has become a cult classic, and one of Burton’s most loved films, it also boasts a killer soundtrack... 

4. Donnie Darko

Richard Kelly’s debut stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an odd boy who receives visions of a creepy Giant Rabbit named Frank in the 28 days leading up to Halloween, on which day, according to Frank, the world will end. This one may take a few watches to fully understand but it remains a favourite with critics. Watch out for clips of the Evil Dead while Donnie is in the cinema, another cult horror favourite suitable for a successfully spooky Fright Night.

3. Hocus Pocus

Bette Midler stars in this Family favourite about a group of three witches mistakenly brought back to life and raising havoc on a Salem. A young Jessica Parker and a very young Thora Birch co-star in this fantastical adventure completely suitable for kids, believe me I was one on its first release! Plus, how unbelievably frickin cool is this guys make up?? (see above!)

2. Trick ‘R Treat

The Halloween horror film version of Love Actually, minus the romance... need I say more? Stars Anna Paquin of True Blood fame and is a genuinely creepy watch. Creepy kid with a sack over his head and a knife? Yeah I thought you'd be shitting your pants too.

1. Halloween

I couldn’t miss out the classic John Carpenter slasher film, the perfect end to a Halloween Horror Movie Marathon. Who knew a Captain Kirk mask could be so unbelievabley creepy?!

Coming soon!

Cinema

The 3D remake of Fright Night starring Colin Farrell was released last month, and soon to come is Guillermo del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, yet another horror movie remake although this one promises to be a good don’t expect it to live up to the original. Also coming soon is the unnecessary reimagining of John Carpenter’s The Thing, needless to say I will still be seeing it...

DVD

If none of the above take your fancy why not rent something a little darker this Halloween? Here’s a few DVD releases that will get your skin crawling...

John Carpenter’s The Ward

Creepy ghost story from the legendary John Carpenter, his first full length feature film for ten years.

Scream 4

The fourth instalment of the popular tongue and cheek slasher trilogy sees David Arquette and Courtney Cox reunited on screen.

Supernatural Complete Season 6

Everyone’s favourite demon hunters return for a sixth season on DVD just as season 7 airs in the USA.

Stakeland

Brilliantly bleak vampire post apocalyptic horror, definitely worth a watch.

George A Romero Presents Deadtime Stories Vol. 1

Three 30 minute horror flicks from the Zombie master himself.

Horror Hall of Fame!

While on vacation in Ontario I came across a hidden gem of a movie theatre full of all sorts of movie related memorabilia! At the back of the theatre was a monster movie hall of fame game, can you guess all the movies represented? Here are a few of my favourites!

Stake Land (2010)

Director:  Jim Mickle

Country:  USA

Tagline:  The most dangerous thing is to be alive

Plot:  America is transformed into an apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by vampires and sadistic cults. A world  Richard Matheson envisioned in his novel, I am Legend back in 1954, Stake Land is a film he would have been proud to write.

Verdict: Stake Land is not for the faint of heart, it is a truly harrowing interpretation of a world consumed by sin. The world in which Martin and Mister live is inhabited by zombie-like vampires, but they aren't even the most dangerous creatures - a cult of white supremist, sadists control much of the north of America. Stakeland isn't everybody's cup of tea, and it certainly isn't anything like the previous run of zombie apocalypse or indeed vampire flicks plastered all over the big screen. The film is a horror, a drama, and a genuinely thought provoking film with brilliant direction and a superb cast of relative unknowns (Kelly McGillis hasn't been well known since the 80's, and Danielle Harris isn't a house hold name unless you are a uber movie geek like me!)
10/10

Fright Night (1985)

Director: Tom Holland

Country:  USA

Tagline:  There are good reasons to be afraid of the dark

Plot:  Horror obsessed Charley believes his new neighbour is a vampire, thing is.. nobody believes him.

Verdict: A cult movie classic, this one has every 80's horror staple. Charley's neighbour of course turns out to be a vamp who kidnaps his girlfriend in true Dracula style, 'glamouring' her into dancing with him and then turning her into an ugly vampire creature, whose hair miraculously grows while vampified and shrinks again when Charley comes to the rescue with Van Helsing, nay Peter Vincent. Basically it is a Dracula tale without most of the sexism (it's still the 80's) and less of the accents. A fun night is to be had watching it, but not a frightening one.

Flight of the Living Dead - Outbreak on a Plane (2007)

Director:  Scott Thomas

Country:  USA

Tagline:  Un-dead at 30000 Feet

Plot:  Some scientists bring an infected colleague onto a plane and all hell breaks loose, literally.

Verdict:  This is another Romero influenced spoof, originally named ‘Plane Dead’, a name they should have, in my opinion, stuck with. It’s full of gore and bad acting, and a whole load of irritating characters you can’t wait to see ripped apart by zombies. It’s in short, Snakes on a Plane with zombies; and yes, it is actually better than Snakes on a Plane, but that’s not hard, is it? It’s easy to watch (well, if you enjoy watching bloody violence, as I do) and a brilliant laugh,  definitely a cult film in the making. If you are a fan of tongue and cheek zombie flicks it’s worth a watch or if you need something to shove on while you are playing drinking games... that’s a thought... you could definitely create a drinking game around this, how about every time a zombie gets shot? Yeah so it’s not going to win awards, okay maybe a Razzie... but I sure as hell enjoyed my plane ride with the dead!

Demons (1985) a.k.a. Dèmoni

Director: Lamberto Bava

Producer: Dario Argento

Country: Italy (why of course)

Tagline: They will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be your tombs.

Plot: A bunch of people get stuck inside a cinema (Metropol) with a whole load of ‘demons’, and are desperately trying to escape before turning into one of them.

Verdict:

In the great tradition of so-bad-it’s-good horror movies what makes this film so awesome is it’s brilliantly simple horror plot. It is packed full of brilliant make up sfx and boasts a heavy metal soundtrack with the likes of Motley Crue and Billy Idol. As in all horror some of the characters are sympathetic and some you severely hope die in the first ten minutes -  the irritatingly pathetic girl (who stupidly brings her friends to the cinema in the first place), the heroic tough guy, the ill-fated punks, the misogynistic pimp, the blind guy, the unlikely hero... you get the picture. It also leaves you desperate (or not...) for more, who was the creepy guy with half a metal face? What’s the mask all about? How did the demons escape the cinema and populate the entire city in the time that it took only few humans to escape? If all those questions and a overly sufficient helping of gore don’t leave you gagging for Demons 2, I don’t know what will.